FORWARD: I wrote this 10 years ago when I was 16. Obviously not the best example of my ability, but it's just fun to look back on myself sometimes and be like, "Damn, I was right."

MICROSOFT MARKETPLACE - THE WORLD'S MOST UNFATHOMABLE POSSIBLE PROFITABLE SUCCESS

The following is an anecdote of Microsoft's Marketplace Xbox Live service. Any opinions expressed are weighed accordingly and are only the views of the author.

If you have not heard of it yet, it is probably the newest, and unfortunatley biggest, internet proportionary scandle to come across consoles world wide.

Xbox 360: The next generation in video gaming, off and online. Boasting a quad-processor and some other unmentionables, this monster machine is probably one of the biggest break throughs in Microsoft's careering life. Also add in the fact that it has a very modest price when compared to the other processing competitor, the PS3, and over a half year jump start to the consumers, this slice of heaven seems to be doing quite well.

Xbox Live: The biggest online service to ever grace the blue and green Earth. Before this marvel came along, most online console games were littered with clunkly scroll-list lobby systems, making the user frustrated before the latency issues of the title he was trying to play. Xbox Live features the most comprehensive collection of online gaming heaven - overall encompassing friends list, the ability to cross over games and see where your friends are playing. Not to mention, integrated voice chat into every game, and a very wallet friendly price ($50/yr [$4.10/m]).

So, one must wonder: what happens if we blend together the monster, Xbox 360, and the most comprehensive online service ever, Xbox Live? You would think you would recieve unparralled user compromisability, along with another boast of exciting features. To an extent, this is the truth. But what happens when this service starts to encroach on the quality of the now $60 games? How is this possible? Enter: Microsoft Marketplace.

The very idea is ingenious - offer additional content post launch of title. Maybe a few new maps six months later, if the game is successful enough to deem such attention. At first glance, this service is an easy way to elude menial expansion packs that could not be released due to the fractionless size they encompass. But the uproars of gamers everywhere immediatly spotted what was, and is, going wrong with this invention. Producers releasing sizeable content over the market, which should of been released with the title first hand. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion: Horse Armor for $5. G.R.A.W.: An expansion of sizeable maps for $15.

My very self, I find outcrying at such a rampage. When I throw down a chunk of cash (read:$60, even $50), I want all the content that should rightfully belong. Instead, most, if not all, producers have the intentions of earning an extra penny by taking some content from the original launch title, and releasing it shortly afterwards, post launch.

We can only hope that some producers realize what a scandal this could become, and opt against releasing content over the Marketplace unless it is rightfully founded. Do not get me wrong - the marketplace is a very viable option, and a very intellegent idea, but it is already shaping to be the tax collector for dummies.

In a friggin' nutshell:

Developers may very well withhold content that should of been included in the launch version, just to throw it on the Marketplace in a feeble attempt to make an extra buck.